English Sample Translation Available   "He has been a disappointment to his father all his life. He should have repented long ago. He should have shaved his bones, carved out his flesh, and returned them to his father."   As a child, she was able to travel spiritually through time and space with the Third Prince. Now, she has lost her psychic powers and the favor of the Third Prince, suffering from the noises of the spiritual world and making ends meet as a third-rate psychic. Until, she comes across Yen Ching, a young man unaware of his spiritual connection with the Third Prince.   Through Yen Ching, she is able to re-connect with the Third Prince and travels through time and space again, entering the mind of an old man. On the misty lake of the Seven Seas Residence, she finds the old man’s unspeakable secrets, buried conflicts, and childhood trauma…   Is this all a mystery for her to solve by herself? Or is this for someone else? Her childhood, her hometown, Yen Ching’s life, and all their fates are tangled together. As her spirit returns to the present, how would she explain all their lives crossing paths?   In Chinese mythology, the rebellious Third Prince was a child who never gained his father’s approval and eventually carved out his flesh and bones to return to his father. His stories of divine powers and adventure are actually stories of trauma. Drawing from the Taiwanese worshipping of the Third Prince, Passing dives deep into the lives of four characters, all agonizing over their relationships with their fathers.  

Rights Sold: English English Translation Available   To the east of the east is a place to start anew.   In an era of booming Taiwanese businesses in China, Min-hui's husband disappeared without a trace in Beijing while she lived an undisturbed life of a writer in Taiwan. In search of her husband, Min-hui traveled to Beijing only to find her husband’s fate utterly unknown despite constant reassurances from local authorities.    Wandering aimlessly in the ancient capital, she encounters the enigmatic Shang-jun, a self-proclaimed human rights activist who seeks refuge in her hotel room. As she contemplates and gradually reveals the discordances of her marriage, the two of read together Min-hui’s work in progress, where a young Qing emperor confined within the Forbidden City becomes captivated by pirate merchant Zheng Zhilong’s tales of the Taiwanese seas and merchant life.   Woven in between are Min-hui’s husband’s series of unsent letters in which he confesses introspections of his life and their marriage, as well as his encounters after leaving Beijing. As Min-hui’s and her husband’s stories unfold, both of them reflect on their true desires for life and ask how can we be free?   First of Ping Lu’s critically acclaimed “Taiwan Trilogy”, To the East of the East is a profound meditation on personal freedom, marriage, and an intricate web of relationships that define both personal destinies and national histories. Masterfully employing her signature multi-layered narrative technique, interweaving the history, two sides of one marriage collected under a common theme of the pursuit of freedom, this work   stands as a remarkable achievement in historical fiction, seamlessly blending personal intimacy with sweeping  historical scope.   As the opening volume of the Taiwan Trilogy, this novel establishes themes that will undoubtedly resonate throughout the series: the relationship between individual agency and historical forces, the ways personal stories reflect larger national narratives, and the endless human capacity to imagine new possibilities even in the most constrained circumstances. To the East of the East confirms Ping Lu’s position as one of contemporary Taiwanese literature's most sophisticated voices. For readers seeking fiction that combines emotional depth with intellectual rigor, this novel offers a journey as rewarding as it is unforgettable.  

English Sample Available   Why is this island always caught in between?   "A magician of history, repeatedly bringing readers to the margins of great historical moments, allowing us to glimpse that history which both doesn't exist and absolutely exists."   This breathtaking second volume of her acclaimed Taiwan Trilogy weaves together two extraordinary love stories separated by three centuries, yet bound by the same tragic fate. Two men from different eras discover that their deepest personal connections become their greatest vulnerabilities in a world where loyalty to nation often conflicts with loyalty to the heart.   In the 17th century, Frederick Coyett, the last Dutch colonial governor, poured his heart and soul into Taiwan, only to lose his beloved island to its next ruler and his career to colonial politics. Three hundred years later, an American diplomat's brilliant career crumbles when his passionate affair with a Taiwanese woman leads to devastating espionage charges in the early 2000s. Both men are haunted by elusive and mysterious female figures who embody Taiwan itself—beautiful, vulnerable, and perpetually misunderstood by the foreign powers who claim to protect her.   These parallel narratives reveal Taiwan's perpetual position as a strategic pawn caught between superpowers, transforming dry historical facts into deeply felt emotional truths, examining Taiwan's complex colonial legacy through the intimate lens of historical scope.   As the opening volume of the Taiwan Trilogy, this novel establishes themes that will undoubtedly resonate throughout the series: the relationship between individual agency and historical forces, the ways personal stories reflect larger national narratives, and the endless human capacity to imagine new possibilities even in the most constrained circumstances. To the East of the East confirms Ping Lu’s position as one of contemporary Taiwanese literature's most sophisticated voices. For readers seeking fiction that combines emotional depth with intellectual rigor, this novel offers a journey as rewarding as it is unforgettable.